Capable of Love?
by Moonlight Phoenix1
Summary: Artemis Fowl pays a girl to protect him from the government. But what will happen when he finds out that she's a spy? Will have future SLASH.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is a little something that came to me at about 42 minutes past 10 at night. This isn't even a proper fiction! I just simply HAD to get this off my chest (as you do!) Also, I haven't read the 2nd Artemis Fowl book, so, in MY world, Artemis's dad is still missing, alright?  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own ANYTHING to do with Artemis Fowl, apart from the plot and Marie Gerlas (the character).  
  
A/N: Oh, just another little note: Arty's mother is on a nice long, two- month holiday because Artemis INSISTED (because he had a plan to rob a high- security bank recently built somewhere near where he lived). Remember - Artemis loves a challenge!  
  
There might be a second chapter if I get enough reviews . . .  
  
~~~~~~~~ Capable of Love? ~~~~~~~~  
  
**Chapter 1**  
  
"Here she is, sir," Butler said, escorting a girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail, mild olive-tanned skin, and dressed in a tight white top and tracksuits into the room. Juliet followed up behind them.  
  
"Ah. So here is the infamous Marie Gerlas - the girl who is one of the best at Swiss Academy, yet isn't a Butler. You will to protect me, is that correct?" Thirteen-year-old Artemis Fowl pleasantly asked the girl in front of him. She had her head hung low.  
  
"Yes sir," she said quietly, still not taking her eyes away from the floor.  
  
Artemis sighed.  
  
"Don't be nervous. Nerves show weakness," he said lazily. The girl nodded and brought her face so Artemis could see her.  
  
They almost gasped at the same time.  
  
The first time she had laid eyes on this boy, no, this MAN, Marie's heart literally stopped for a beat. She had heard about him, of course - but now to see him . . . in the flesh! She was in a tricky position.  
  
The Brazilian Government wanted her to spy on him - to sell him out. But looking into his blue-black eyes . . . for a second she saw the little boy he really was.  
  
She was ashamed of herself - she had promised herself that she would never fall in love . . . and here she was, doing just that. Stupid really. Love at first sight. How clichéd.  
  
No, no, dammit NO! Artemis's brain yelled, though he kept his sardonic mask on. He couldn't . . . he just simply couldn't be having these . . . these . . . --feelings-- for a girl he had only met not two minutes ago. But her eyes . . . they were so dark that they were almost black. And they reflected . . . pain? But they were beautiful all the same. No. Wait a second. Artemis thought --nothing-- was beautiful. Nothing, apart from gold.  
  
He couldn't possibly be falling in . . . no, NO, Artemis, don't you --dare-- go there! His brain commanded. You aren't capable of loving anything, or anyone. You're just not capable. Are you?  
  
This is just business! She protects me from those nosey government people - I pay her. Simple as that.  
  
"So . . . you are thirteen, is that correct?" Artemis asked, trying to keep his voice neutral and also trying to ignore the fact that right now he was busy focusing on just breathing.  
  
"Y-yes sir," Marie said, lying through her teeth.  
  
"Tell me a bit about yourself, and your family," Artemis said.  
  
Oh, this was tricky. She had to skirt around the subject of where her father worked.  
  
"Well, I like kickboxing, listening to music, and writi-" Marie quickly stopped herself. She'd blow her cover for sure if she went around telling people that she liked writing poetry!  
  
"Um, writhing my, er . . . hands," she quickly said. Artemis arched an eyebrow.  
  
"Heh heh heh," Marie let out a meek laugh. "I was joking!" she added.  
  
Artemis nodded. "Proceed, Marie," he said, waving a hand.  
  
"My mother is Spanish and she, um . . . she died when I was ten years old," Marie said, eyes falling to the ground. "I don't, um, really like talking about it," she said quietly.  
  
"I understand," Artemis said softly, nodding. Butler and Juliet shared an alarmed glance. Artemis was being --understanding-- to someone he had just met a few minutes ago? Someone who he hadn't even had time to check could be trusted or not? Strange.  
  
"Anyway, my father is Italian and he, er . . . he worked as an air steward and he, um . . . he left me when I was twelve," Marie said. It wasn't exactly a lie. Her father --had-- left her - with her relatives, who, coincidentally, worked for the Brazilian government, and had got her to work for them too, since she was undoubtedly either a rebel with a hell of an attitude who deserved to go to juvenile hall, or just the exact girl the government were looking for to lure Artemis Fowl into their trap.  
  
"Well, that's, um . . . that's pretty much it, really!" Marie said, giving Artemis a little grin.  
  
And, as much as he tried, he could not help but grinning back. 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: OK, I just want to say I'm sorry I haven't updated this story for absolutely AGES. I started writing the 2nd chapter straight away, but then I kinda . . . forgot about it. *blushes heavily* Thank you for all your reviews. I appreciate that you took time to review such a crappy piece of work (that I typed up in about ten minutes). Yes, I do realise that there were about a gazillion mistakes in the last chapter (and even in this chapter), and I know, I KNOW, it seems like a Mary-Sue, but, trust me, Marie is so totally NOT a Mary Sue. OK, well, she is KINDA. But you will see why good old Arty is so, um, 'taken' by her in this chappie! Oh, and also, the last chapter, and this chapter, and many chapters to come might seem a little bit rushed because . . . well, I haven't read Artemis Fowl for a while, and I've kinda forgotten some pretty crucial stuff. OK, I'll stop babbling now . . .  
  
~~~~~~~~ Capable of Love? ~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"Follow me," Artemis said, leaving the room and going up the stairwell. Maria followed him with Butler following her, while carrying her two bags with all her things.  
  
"Um, sorry, but where is the . . . um, toilet?" Maria asked nervously.  
  
"Right down the corridor, on the left. The room next to it will be yours. Butler and I will be waiting there for you," Artemis directed her, while trying to steady his breathing - her eyes were really gorgeous.  
  
Maria smiled graciously, yet shyly, and made her way into the bathroom. Once she locked the locked the door she let out a big sigh. She put her hand on her chest, just below her neck, and muttered, "Erscheinen Sie." [1]  
  
There seemed to be a green glow coming from her hand, and slowly, a rosy pink stone on a necklace appeared. Maria sighed, and took the necklace off, pocketing it in the pocket of her tracksuit bottoms.  
  
"Can't let anyone get too suspicious," she muttered to herself. The stone on the necklace was a special rose quartz, charmed by a Bruja [2] from the Brazilian government. It enabled the one who was wearing it to have a sort of power over the one he or she chose to 'target' for their own reasons.  
  
Because it was a rose quartz that Maria had, it made Artemis, her chosen 'target' believe to be falling in love with her. The girl sighed to herself again. It was pretty twisted, playing with someone's feeling; their heart especially, but it was all necessary in the line of work.  
  
She went out of the door, quietly closed it behind her, and entered the room next to it.  
  
"Holy shit!" she gasped as soon as she stepped into it. Artemis and Butler looked at her. She blushed. "Um, I mean . . . holy potatoes?" she said nervously.  
  
Good job you idiot. Now you're gonna blow your cover by swearing all over the place. You're supposed to be shy and quiet, remember? Maria's brain berated her.  
  
But, even so, the room was magnificent: a giant bed with magenta-coloured covers, a dressing table and a cupboard with weird writing on it (Maria recognised it as Gnommish, or something - she had learnt all about the creatures that lived under the earth during her Brazilian government spy- training), a fireplace and, to her mild surprise . . . a punching bag.  
  
"Th-thank you," Marie stuttered as Butler roughly dropped her two heavy bags on her bed.  
  
"This is the room you will be sleeping in. You will wake up at exactly six am every morning, and patrol around the house. Make sure that there aren't any people snooping around. At ten fifteen precisely, you will meet me, Butler and Juliet in the dining room for breakfast. Then, you can have one hour to yourself while Butler patrols the house. Then you will go back to patrolling the house. There is a hidden camera on your jacket, so I will be able to see everything you see. I will have it installed tomorrow. Every time I need to speak to you a little shock from the camera will go through you - I'm sure you won't mind, judging from the fact that you are technically a, er, 'female' version of Butler, my butler," Artemis said, perfectly in control of the situation: if you had been inside his brain, you would never had known that he was speaking to the girl it had appeared that he was madly in love with or some nonsense just a few minutes ago.  
  
"Um . . . sir?" Maria asked tentatively.  
  
Artemis sighed.  
  
"Stop with all this . . . 'sir' business. It's unnerving. Makes me feel old," he said. He stepped towards Maria so they were head to head. Well, Maria was a bit smaller than Artemis at 5 ft 4", but all the same anyway.  
  
"This is where your camera will be," Artemis said, tapping just below the dark-eyed girl's left collarbone. Maria sucked in a breath (on purpose, of course - she had to make it look like she fancied the pants off him, didn't she? Which she didn't. Of course she didn't).  
  
"Um . . . sir? I, I mean . . . Artemis . . . will . . . will I have . . ." Maria paused, looking apprehensive. Then, "a TV in my room?" she asked.  
  
Artemis raised a perfectly well groomed eyebrow. (A/N: NOT that he used tweezers, of course. His eyebrows are just . . . naturally well groomed.)  
  
Maria cringed a bit.  
  
"I'm sorry Artemis, I shouldn't have-" the girl started, but Artemis cut her off.  
  
"Quite alright. You should get something in return for patrolling the house. I will have Butler bring in your television tomorrow," he said curtly.  
  
Butler furrowed his brows a bit, but didn't question his master. There was a knock at the door. Juliet let herself in.  
  
"Hey, Arty, you --will-- let me and Maria work together for something, won't you?" she asked. Artemis looked at Butler questioningly.  
  
"Juliet is good friends with Gerlas," he said flatly.  
  
"Oh. I see. What do you propose I let you work together for?" Artemis asked Juliet.  
  
"Um . . ." this question seemed to stump her. "Oh, I dunno! Something like practicing kicks and punches and stuff in that new room, you know, the one with the punching bag!" Juliet said, eyes lighting up. "What do you think, Marie?" she turned to the girl.  
  
"Um, yeah, sure," she agreed.  
  
"I'll think about it," Artemis said. He turned to leave, then turned back and said, "Remember . . . six o'clock sharp," He always --did-- like punctuality.  
  
Maria nodded. Damn. This spy business was hard work: she always slept in until eleven.  
  
[1] Means 'appear' in German.  
  
[2] Means 'witch' in Spanish.  
  
A/N: *cough* Well, that was an unbelievably weak chapter. Oh well. *sits twiddling thumbs whilst staring at the ceiling* So what are all you lot waiting for? Review!!! 


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